Chapter 128: No Training Today
Arthur came downstairs the next morning expecting a standard Thorne breakfast.
Emily was already at the table, but she clearly wasn’t dressed for the dojo or the arena. She wore comfortable casual clothes instead of her usual training gear.
Arthur looked her over as he pulled out his chair. "No training clothes."
"Correct," Emily said, taking a sip of her tea.
Kael looked up from his plate. "Are you training before tomorrow’s bout?"
Emily answered for him. "No."
Arthur glanced across the table at her. "Apparently my schedule has changed."
"It has," Emily confirmed.
After breakfast, Arthur stood up and automatically headed toward the guest wing to collect his competition dagger.
Emily caught his arm before he could get far. "Leave it."
Arthur glanced toward the hall, then back at her. "I feel naked without a weapon."
Emily took another sip of tea. "You’ll manage."
Arthur looked at the empty spot on his belt, sighed, and left the weapon upstairs.
A few minutes later, Arthur sat in the back of one of the Thorne family cars. He watched the streets roll past the window and quickly noticed they were taking the wrong route.
"We aren’t heading toward the arena," Arthur pointed out. "Where are we going?"
"I told you to leave three days open," Emily reminded him.
Arthur remembered the conversation.
"Somehow," Emily continued, leaning back against the seat, "those three days immediately became my father hitting you, a tournament registration, a goblin pack, and a melee match."
"Your father hitting me deserves its own day," Arthur noted.
Emily laughed. "Today isn’t about the tournament."
"What is it about?"
Emily looked at him. "Us going out."
Emily’s first stop was a small, crowded bakery-café tucked into one of the older districts of the city.
It was the place she had frequented after training while growing up.
The owner, an older man with flour on his apron, recognized her the moment she walked through the door and immediately began embarrassing her.
He cheerfully informed Arthur that Emily used to finish her own meals in record time, then routinely steal Kael’s food because her younger brother ate too slowly.
"That was entirely his fault," Emily insisted, glaring at the owner.
The man laughed. "Kael eventually had to start guarding his plate with his forearm."
Arthur looked at Emily. "Did it work?"
"No," Emily said flatly.
Arthur smiled, watching her argue playfully with a man who had known her since childhood.
When they finally left the restaurant, walking back out into the morning air, Arthur bumped his shoulder against hers.
"You stole your little brother’s food."
"He survived," Emily said, adjusting her jacket.
"Barely, apparently."
Emily shoved him. Arthur laughed, put an arm smoothly around her waist, and they kept walking.
They spent the next few hours simply wandering through Emily’s old neighborhood.
She pointed out a heavy brick warehouse where she used to sit on the loading docks waiting for Seraphina to finish business meetings. A few streets later, they passed a high stone wall that she and Kael used to climb when they were specifically told not to.
"Did you ever have a peaceful hobby?" Arthur asked, looking up at the wall.
Emily considered the question for a moment. "Eating."
"Apparently even that involved stealing from Kael."
Emily shoved him again.
As they merged into a bustling market street, Emily stopped at a crowded stall to inspect a display of heavy leather belts. As she bent over the low table, the fabric of her trousers pulled tight across her ass.
Arthur stopped looking at the merchandise entirely.
Emily straightened, turned her head, and caught him staring.
"Really?" she asked.
Arthur didn’t bother denying it. "Very."
Emily pushed his shoulder hard enough to make him take a step backward, though the corner of her mouth twitched.
Later, when they turned down a quieter side street away from the heavy crowds, Arthur reached out and actually grabbed her ass, his fingers squeezing the firm flesh through her clothes.
Emily immediately caught his wrist.
She left his hand exactly where it was for a single beat. Then she said, "Public."
She moved his hand firmly up to her waist. They continued walking.
They stopped for a late lunch at a casual tavern located near the riverbank.
It was crowded, noisy, and perfectly ordinary. They ate and talked without the conversation drifting back into training routines or tournament brackets.
An attractive server walked past their table carrying a tray of drinks. Arthur’s eyes followed her for a fraction of a second.
Emily noticed instantly. "Done?"
"Yes," Arthur said.
Emily kicked his bruised thigh anyway.
Arthur flinched, nearly dropping his fork as the dull ache flared. "I surrendered."
"Too late," Emily countered.
"What did you originally imagine when you invited me home?" Arthur asked, leaning forward on his elbows.
Emily took a sip of her water. "I wanted to show you around. Spend time together. Let you see where I grew up."
Arthur smiled.
Emily noticed the expression. "Don’t make it weird."
"I wasn’t going to."
She gave him a highly skeptical look from across the table. Arthur reached across the wood and took her hand instead.
After lunch, Emily led him to a quiet stone overlook beside the river.
The water moved steadily below them, catching the afternoon sunlight. The path behind them was mostly empty. They sat together on the wide stone bench, talking normally as the afternoon stretched out.
Arthur eventually leaned back, resting his arm along the stone behind her.
"Bring many men here?" Arthur asked.
"No," Emily said.
Arthur slowly turned his head, a smug comment already forming on his lips.
Emily immediately leaned in and kissed him before he could say it.
Emily kissed him hard enough to kill the comment before it left his mouth. A few seconds later, her lips parted, and Arthur pulled her closer.
His hand dropped from the back of the bench, wrapping around her waist before sliding down to grip her ass.
She let him squeeze it, leaning heavier against him.
His other hand moved up her side, sliding over her ribs to close firmly over one breast through her casual clothes. He squeezed the soft flesh.
Emily caught his wrist.
She pulled her mouth away, breathing slightly heavier, and glanced toward the public walking path behind them. She looked back at Arthur.
"Home," Emily said.
Arthur stood up immediately.
Emily looked up at him from the bench. "That was fast."
"I’m very obedient."
She didn’t believe him for a second, but she stood up and took his hand.
They sat beside each other in the back seat on the drive home.
Arthur’s hand rested on Emily’s thigh. His thumb slowly rubbed along the inside, and after a while his hand drifted a little higher.
Emily let him push the boundary for a while, her brown eyes watching the streets outside the window.
When his thumb brushed too close, she calmly reached down and caught his wrist. She lowered his hand back down to her knee.
"Wait," Emily said quietly.
Arthur looked at her. "You keep using that word."
Emily kept her hand firmly over his, lacing their fingers together on her lap until they reached the compound.
A few minutes before the gates came into view, Arthur turned his hand beneath hers and let his fingertips drag once along the inside of her thigh. Emily’s fingers tightened around his immediately. She looked over, caught the expression on his face, and deliberately pressed his hand back down.
"Dinner first."
Arthur exhaled through his nose. "You’re enjoying this."
Emily looked back out the window, smiling.
At dinner that evening, Kael didn’t take long to start asking questions.
"Where did you go today?" Kael asked, reaching for a plate of roasted meat across the table.
"Around," Emily answered vaguely.
"Apparently your sister had a childhood," Arthur added.
Kael looked highly skeptical. "Are you sure?"
Emily kicked her brother under the table. Kael grunted, glaring at her, but dinner continued normally.
Under the table, out of sight of Seraphina and Gareth, Arthur placed a hand on Emily’s thigh again. She didn’t react. She continued eating and talking to Adrian.
Arthur squeezed her thigh, then slid his hand slightly higher.
Emily caught his fingers. Without ever looking at him, she pressed his hand firmly back down onto the lower part of her thigh and held it there.
Arthur glanced sideways at her. Emily kept talking normally, not missing a beat in her conversation.
"So, what do you think about the other side of the bracket?" Kael asked suddenly.
Arthur, entirely distracted, missed the question completely.
"What?" Arthur asked, looking back across the table.
Beside him, Emily smiled quietly into her drink.
When dinner finally ended, Arthur walked upstairs alone and returned to his guest room.
A little later, the heavy wooden door opened.
Emily stepped inside and pushed the door shut behind her. The latch clicked loudly in the quiet room.
Arthur turned toward her. "So—"
Emily caught the front of his shirt, pulled him in, and kissed him.